Various products such as a toy, an alarm clock and a portable telephone terminal are currently available in which are incorporated the voices of specific characters, such as celebrities, including singers and politicians, or characters appearing on TV shows or in movies. These products are so designed that when a predetermined operation is performed, a message is output using a specific character's voice. This provides an added value for the product.
However, conventionally, data for predetermined phrases using the voice of a specific character are merely stored in a product by the device maker, and the phrasing of messages can not be altered or established by a purchaser (customer) to conform to his or her taste.
According to recent developments in voice synthesis techniques, data can be prepared for the reproduction of voice characteristics, such as voice quality or prosody, unique to the voice of a specific character, so that this data, when applied to a phrase that is input, can be employed to generate a message using a synthesized voice that is very similar to the voice of the specific character.
No particular problem arises when this technique is employed by a device maker, because the procedure by which fees will be assessed and paid for the use of the copyrighted voice of a specific character can be clarified by contract. But if the above technique is provided (sold) as software, for example, to a user (a purchaser), thereby permitting the user to freely generate voice synthesis messages, in this case, the procedure by which fees are to be assessed and paid for copyrighted material belonging to a specific character is unclear.
To resolve this technical problem, it is one objective of the present invention to provide a voice synthesis system for providing voice synthesis messages that are consonant with the tastes of customers, and to provide a voice synthesis method, a server, a storage medium, a program transmission apparatus, a voice synthesis data storage medium and a voice output device.
It is another objective of the present invention to ensure a fee is paid for the use of the copyrighted voice of a specific character, and to protect the rights of that character.